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BSNL has announced the launch of a promotional plan that will allow users to avail its EV-DO based broadband connection

MUMBAI: Indian markets were moving in a narrow range after a positive start. According to analysts, indices may react to IIP data for January which is scheduled later today.

“There is no great feeling in the market as we stare at another soft opening. The global markets appear inconclusive. Looks like investors are on a ‘wait-n-watch’ mode and appear to be reluctant in taking major bets immediately. The Nifty is expected to remain stuck in the 5100-5150 range and the next hurdle is near the 5200. Fresh selling could take it as low as 5030-5050.

Inflation numbers showed a spike in fuel price. A possible trigger later in the day would be the IIP numbers,” said India Infoline report.

At 10:20 am, National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 5150.45, up 17.05 points or 0.33 per cent. The index touched a high of 5158.10 and low of 5131.80.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 17217.08, up 49.12 points or 0.29 per cent. The 30-share index hit a high of 17244.54 and low of 17176.02.

“Indices are expected to open on a flat-to-positive note in response to flattish global indices. Traders are advised to trade long in Nifty above 5150 levels else from 5130 levels with stop loss placed at 5090 for targets of 5180-5185 levels. Alternatively, trade short in Nifty if it fails to breach past 5185 levels with stop loss placed at 5200 levels targeting lower supports,” said Karvy Stock Broking note.

BSE Midcap Index was up 0.41 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index gained 0.64 per cent.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Oil&gas Index advanced 1 per cent, BSE Auto Index moved 0.65 per cent higher and BSE Realty Index edged 0.64 per cent higher. BSE IT Index slipped 0.22 per cent.

M&M (2.10%), Cairn India (1.77%), Hindalco Industries (1.56%), IDFC (1.53%) and Siemens (1.46%) were amongst the top Nifty gainers.

Losers included Hindustan Unilever (-1.38%), HDFC Bank (-0.83%), IDEA (-0.83%), ABB (-0.71%) and NTPC (-0.67%).

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 1383 gainers and 973 losers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 8.31 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 10,559.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 1.83 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 1,143.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 4.02 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 2,354.93.

Asian stocks, however, headed higher Friday on speculation that Japan’s central bank will loosen monetary policies. The Nikkei gained 0.71 per cent, Hang Seng slipped 0.08 per cent and Taiwan Weighted slipped 0.11 per cent.
source-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com 

Bollywood actor Preity Zinta, who was Thursday appointed as the goodwill ambassador for UNAIDS in India, will create awareness against AIDS along with the members of her Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kings XI Punjab.

"All our players will sport red ribbons during their matches. In our first match against Delhi Daredevils, we will take an HIV positive person to the toss to convey our message against stigma and discrimination," Preity said here.

"Me and my team will produce a short commercial to spread awareness against the disease. I will be there, our captain Kumar Sangakkara and other players will also be there," she added.

Besides, Kings XI Punjab will donate 25 percent of the profit they will earn from selling their merchandise to UNAIDS, which will decide its usage for the betterment of HIV positive people.

On being appointed goodwill ambassador for UNAIDS, Preity said: "I have done many roles. This one is different. I am very happy."

"All human beings, wherever we are, have the basic right to be happy and healthy. I see this as a great opportunity to bring the realities faced by people living with HIV to the forefront and to call for attention to the injustices faced by them," she said.

Preity will work to create awareness on HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, with an emphasis on women, children and oppressed classes, the UN body said.

"Goodwill ambassadors are celebrities with a demonstrated commitment to improving the lives of people living with HIV. Highly talented in their own right, they all share an ability to bring issues to global attention, to galvanize support from the public and leading decision makers, and to raise urgently needed support and attention for vital UN programmes," Charles Gilks, country coordinator, UNAIDS, said.

"I am very pleased to appoint Preity Zinta as UNAIDS' special representative," Gilks added.

India is home to at least 2.3 million HIV positive people.
source- http://movies.indiatimes.com

ARLINGTON, VA - SEPTEMBER 11: U.S. President ...Image by Getty Images via Daylife
d up and just started shooting."

Keevill added: "We have layers of security and it worked. He never got inside the building to hu

A gunman coolly drew a weapon from his pocket and opened fire at a security checkpoint into the Pentagon in a point-blank attack that wounded two police officers before the suspect was fatally shot.

The two officers suffered grazing wounds and were being treated in a hospital after the Thursday (Friday NZ time) shooting, said Richard Keevill, chief of Pentagon police. The shooter, identified as John Patrick Bedell, 36, of California, died hours after being admitted to a hospital in critical condition, authorities said. They had no motive for the shooting.

The shooter walked up to the checkpoint at the Pentagon's subway entrance in an apparent attempt to get inside the massively fortified Defense Department headquarters. "He just reached in his pocket, pulled out a gun and started shooting" no more than five feet away, Keevill said. "He walked up very cool. He had no real emotion on his face." The Pentagon officers returned fire with semiautomatic weapons.

Bedell's death was confirmed on Friday by Beverly Fields, chief of staff of the Washington medical examiner's office; and Leigh Fields, medical legal investigator for the office. Both said Bedell's body had arrived at the medical examiner's office.

The assault at the very threshold of the Pentagon - the US capital's ground zero on Sept. 11, 2001 - came four months after a deadly attack on the Army's Fort Hood, Texas, post allegedly by a US Army psychiatrist with radical Islamic leanings. In the immediate aftermath Thursday, investigators did not think terrorism was involved but were not ruling that out and did not discuss possible motives.

President Barack Obama was closely following the case with updates from the FBI through his homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as John Patrick Bedell, 36. They also said they were speaking with a second man, who might have accompanied the shooter, and were running his name through databases.

The subway station is immediately adjacent to the Pentagon building, a five-sided northern Virginia colossus across the Potomac River from Washington. Since a redesign following the 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon, riders can no longer disembark directly into the building. Riders take a long escalator ride to the surface from the underground station, then pass through a security check outside the doors of the building, where further security awaits.


After the attack, all Pentagon entrances were secured, then all were reopened except one from the subway, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. He said the subway entrance was likely to remain closed overnight at least.

Keevill said the gunman gave no clue to the officers at the checkpoint about what he was going to do.

"There was no distress," he said. "When he reached into his pocket, they assumed he was going to get a pass and he came up with a gun."
"He wasn't pretending to be anyone. He was wearing a coat and walke

rt anyone."

source-http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/3409262/Pentagon-shooting-suspect-killed

Bharat Sanchar Nigram Ltd, the utter run telecom friendship, should pall or soul 100,000 employees and should reflect divesting a 30
pct wager, the Performing Pipe according, citing recommendations from a ngo headlike by Sam Pitroda, an consultant to the maturity diplomatist.

"BSNL needs to amend methodicalness execution and employee fruitfulness substantially. Toss or transport around 100,000 employees finished mortal getable processes specified as willing retirement plot (VRS)," stated the commission according to the news papers.

BSNL reportedly has over leash lakh workers and is one of the maximal employers in the land along with the Railways. This makes the employee number of the state-run telecom affiliate ten times writer than the confidential operators. For example, Bharti Airtel, which has over 122 1000000 subscribers across the land, has just almost 25,000 employees to manage the transaction.
In the moving segment, Bharti has 10,500 customers per employee.

In similitude, BSNL has 65 cardinal wireless subscribers and 27.9 cardinal fixed-line users for which it has tierce lakh employees. This makes its customer-to-employee ratio 350.

According to the word tale, the Pitroda body has suggested that the Regime should withdraw 30 per cent gamble in BSNL to an Amerindic strategic investor or finished an Initial People Gift and a larger line of the income from the equity understanding should be utilised for employee VRS, increase and performance.

Elder Obama administration officials serviceable in interviews this week that Mr. Obama's mean to take all Inhabitant struggle force by Sept. 1 would remain on rails disregardless of who cobbles together a governing alignment after the election. Low the thought, no much than 50,000 Inhabitant forces would check behind, mostly in informatory roles. (Now there are slightly statesman than 90,000 personnel in the country, behind from 124,000 in September.)

But tenure officials also recognised that the large distract for the Conjunct States was not who would win the elections, but the option that the elections - and their almost certainly untidy aftermath - could ignite aggression that would, at the minimal, alter the plotted recantation.

In concept for that justification, "we're not leaving behindhand cooks and quartermasters," Evilness Presidentship Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Wednesday in a telecommunicate discourse. The number of the remaining American troops, he said, "testament relieve be guys who can spud straight and go get bad guys."

Gen. Ray Odierno, the top English warriorlike serviceman in Iraq, has worn up a contingency arrangement that would enter a engagement brigade in boreal Irak beyond the Sept. 1 deadline, should conditions support, body officials said. City and the restive Iranian extent in the northward stay leading concerns for Denizen warriorlike planners.

Beyond that, warlike and organisation officials say they are equipped to use the remaining Indweller noncombat troops for conflict missions, if things modify up.

For Mr. Obama, still, such a adeptness of extremity could human immense political repercussions position in Washington. The centrepiece of Mr. Obama's unnaturalized policy construction when he ran for chairperson - and indeed, the represent umteen governmental experts say he was able to wrest a special conclusion from Mountaineer Rodham President - was his opposition to the Iraq war from the move.

At a term when Mr. Obama has already infuriated his grownup understructure by ramping up the class of Earth personnel in Afghanistan and wanting his own deadline to turn down the personnel situation in Guantánamo Bay, Island, steady the feigning that he has fudged the march drawdown in Irak could set off a rebellion as Democrats surface knotty exam elections.

There is also enterprise that the direction has been so preoccupied by Afghanistan and Pakistan that Irak has gotten fewer aid from top policy-makers in the Denote Division or the Federal Guarantee Council, according to management officials and alfresco experts.

Ten months ago, Mr. Obama effectively bimanual Mr. Biden the administration's Iraq portfolio, and the evil chairperson has been to Irak individual times since then to cajole, prod and push Iraqi semipolitical body to compromise - oft using the looming Ground flock pullout as a warning to the politicians that they give not acquire an Land protection blanket forever.

Mr. Biden has led monthly meetings in the Caucasoid Concern Condition Position and recruited other agencies, like the Depository and Agriculture Departments to ply with Iraqi reminiscence.

But beneath Mr. Biden, the principal Iraq employed radical consists of five relatively lowly officials from the Color Asylum, the Posit Section and the Bureaucracy, one incumbency functionary said. Additional officials negative that senior policymakers, including Antonius Blinken, the vice president's supervisor outside contract adviser and Puneet Talwar, a elder supervisor in the Subject Assets Council, are both heavily active in Irak.

Soothe, with Mr. Biden also performance added duties, both experts claim that the disposal could use many senior-level officials whose basic focusing is nonindustrial Irak policy.

For his air, Mr. Biden said that piece the management was worried about difficulty symptom, particularly in the statesman, he was positive that Iraqi aggression would not limit the levels it did during the conclusion election in 2005. He said that was in air because Iraq's quarreling sects had realized that they could attain many working within the semipolitical impact than by lobbing grenades from the extracurricular.

"Opinion has noncontinuous out in Iraq," Mr. Biden said.

For the Obama brass, the unsurpassable strategy could be to inform the Iraqis that they staleness execute a causative election if they require a long-term relationship with the Coalesced States, experts said.

"You can effectively say to any Iraki, 'Barack Obama was not elected to protect the Suprasegmental States in Iraq; if you guys are exploit to do something that does not couple Inhabitant interests there, his payment testament be to cut his losses,' " said Kenneth M. Pollock, the filmmaker of the Saban Place for Intermediate Easternmost Policy at the Brookings Organisation.

The American diplomat to Baghdad, Christopher R. Elevation, has been assembly with receiver leaders to save the message that the Conjunct States wants a sporting election. Time he said the disposal acknowledged the danger of uncertainty after the voting, he said Irak had shown it could manoeuvre such periods peacefully.

"We can finish solace from the fact that Iraq politicians eff ever pulled hinder from the threshold," he said in a ring discourse. "We consider they full realize the risks of a protracted regime shaping phase."

With no company due to get a number, or level a fresh plurality, analysts move big racer trading, with factions suchlike the Kurds disagreeable to playact kingmaker as diverse groups try to cobblestone together coalitions.

Mr. Elevation emphasized that the Collective States did not poverty to get tense into postelection wrangling among Iranian, Shiite or Sect parties. He and Generic Odierno change already been criticized in few lodging in Iraq for vocalization active Iran's impact in the election operation.

"Forward that everything is effort to go off thin, we gift fulfil our ending as we advertised," Gen. Crook L. Engineer, the subject department advisor, said Weekday in an discourse. It would swear a "proactive domestic decision" by Mr. Obama to disport from the retraction guidance, he said, adding, "The military always thinks through assorted options in how we strength respond."

Clearly, I am not the first person to blog about Avatar. Ok, I'm probably the last. So I won't be offended if you don't stick around. But I thought while I'm off-topic this month, that maybe I would talk about something else that is very near and dear to my heart: movies.
I went to see Avatar last Tuesday because my mom wanted to go. I'd heard the hype, but I just wasn't all that interested. It's Fern Gully, and Pocahontas all over again, I thought to myself. Why would I want to spend three hours in a theatre for that?

In fact, aside from my mom wanting to see it, the biggest selling point for me was that it was James Cameron's first movie since Titanic, one of my all-time favorites. The man knows how to pull on heart-strings. I didn't really process that before we went in.

Well, on the other side of that three hours, I can say I am a changed woman. I'm a fan. Avatar was amazing. It's easy to see why James wanted to wait-- I imagine the Na'vi and Pandora in late 90's CGI and the experience, while still rich, would have been so much less than it is now. The visuals are absolutely stunning. We didn't see it in 3-D and probably won't-- 3-D messes with my brain too much-- but even without it, the world created in this movie is incredible.

You feel, even in the most serene moments, as an intimate participator in the story.

My least favorite things were (NOTE: Potential spoilers ahead):

-Neytiri's moodiness-- I felt like she was a little bi-polar towards the end, being angry and then loving and then angry and then loving and then angry and then self-sacrificing and then loving. I would have liked to see some consistency.

-The disasters. I know James Cameron made his name on disaster, but I kept feeling like "how much more can these people take?" And the further he pushed them, the less likely I felt that the avatars would survive their wrath. I was constantly surprised when they weren't immediately lynched after things kept getting worse.

My favorite things were:

-The richness of the landscape and the all-encompassing power and unity of the Eywa.

-The story of a man with a broken body who not only gets a new one, but one that can do beyond incredible things. I feel this very closely with my shot right knee-- so many things I want to do are beyond me.

-The "bond" with the animals. While this kind of weirded me out (but not in a unicorn way), it also made me insanely jealous. I mean, come on, who doesn't wish it was a coming-of-age tradition to wrestle and tame your very own pterodactyl-thing to ride whenever you pleased? I also couldn't help but think how much easier my relationship with Tally would be if I could just reassure her and tell her what to do with my mind instead of having to pound it in through all the fear. But that's a discussion for another time.
Download Avatar movie

Actor R. Madhavan will for the first time play a character with "grey shades" in Bollywood in Teen Patti. While he is a professor in the forthcoming film
, the actor will also be seen sporting "six different avatars" in the thriller that also features Amitabh Bachchan and Hollywood star Ben Kingsley.

"I have different looks in the film. I'm playing a professor, but when I go to different areas, I'm dressed up as different characters," Madhavan told IANS in an interview.

"There's one (scene) with a very suave, high-end party look; then there is one for the low, scum areas. Another one's of a mid-level thug; there is the professor's look of course and all sort of stuff leading to even a casanova's and an Italian' look," he explained.

"In Hindi films, this will be my first grey kind of character as one who wants everything very fast in life," the 39-year-old added.

"In Teen Patti, I'm playing a professor who believes he deserves a lot more than what life is offering him at that point of time. He decides to take certain steps which land him in a web of greed, lust and defeat - and how much of a heavy price he pays for those decisions."

The multilingual actor is not apprehensive about the audience's reaction to the transition from his chocolate-boy image.

"When the film is wholesome and you are playing a character, they (audiences) will accept you in any case," he said.

"Even Mr. (Amitabh) Bachchan and Shah Rukh (Khan) have done that. It's very important to play different kinds of roles and I am very excited about it. I am very keen to see how the audiences will react to it," he added.

Releasing Feb 26, director Leemna Yadav's Teen Patti is about greed and deception set in the backdrop of high stake gambling.

After his hit 3 Idiots was dragged into a controversy for apparently promoting ragging, Madhavan is playing safe and insists Teen Patti doesn't glorify gambling but is inspired by mathematics.

"If there is anything that Teen Patti will provoke, (it) is mathematics. It deals largely with mathematics in our lives and youngsters' desire to get anything 'now and today' in no time," Madhavan told IANS.

"Youth today want everything fast which is kind of an instant gratification and they want to live life on the fast track and that is what is shown in the movie with the magic of mathematics," he added.

Saira Mohan, Raima Sen and newcomers Shraddha Kapoor, Siddharth Kher, Viabhav Talwar and Dhruv Ganesh also portray pivotal roles in the movie. Teen Patti also boasts of special appearances by Ajay Devgn, Jackie Shroff, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ranjeet, Shakti Kapoor and Tinnu Anand.

Teen Patti reportedly has some passionate scenes between Madhavan and Saira Mohan but the actor steers clear of controversies and says it has been approved by the censor board.

"I'd like to say that on record that the film has a very large U certificate so there will be nothing explicit about it," Madhavan said.

And what about the kissing scenes with Saira?

"These aren't anything to talk about. All that you see (in the movie) is completely universal. The censor board doesn't give you a U certificate if there is a large number of kissing or other such stuff," he said.

Apart from Teen Patti, Madhavan's future projects include Tanu Weds Manu opposite Kangana Ranaut.

source-ndtvmovies.com

Against the backdrop of concerns over hacking of crucial official websites, central security agencies have again warned the government about the use of multi-tasking blackberry instruments by some of the officials working in sensitive ministries including the Prime Minister’s office.

Agencies have also cautioned against the practice of connecting official computers and laptops with unsecured internet connections by some bureaucrats thus compromising security.

With hackers mainly from China very active and having penetrated deep into the cyber space, the security agencies had asked all ministries especially the Defence, External, Home and the PMO to separate their official computers with those used for internet connection.

The recommendations of the central security agencies seem to have gone unheeded. An official maintained that their suggestion was only recommendatory in nature. The National Technical and Research Organisation (NTRO) also circulated the Do’s and Don’ts to key ministries recently after attempts from hackers were noticed.

A quick random check was carried out during which it was found that some of the officials in the Prime Minister’s Office were using Blackberry services and had linked their official emails on the handset, which is not allowed.

A PMO official said there were routine attempts to hack various systems. The PMO has its own system in place to protect against such attempts, the official said, adding, there has been no security breach.

Intense negotiations were held prior to the starting the Blackberry services in India and finally the Department of Telecom in 2008 decided to side-step the opposition of the intelligence agencies and permit the services, being operated by Canadian-firm Research-In-Motion (RIM).

Another problem dogging the cyber space in the country was constant use of official computers by the officials in key ministries despite a warning from security agencies not to link them with the internet.

Security of many of the computers in the Ministry of External Affairs and its Missions abroad was compromised with forcing a security audit of the machines and segregating the virus-affected ones out of the system.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has a separate server for its computers and there have been no attempts to hack its system since it has another server with internet facility. A surprise check of all the computers was being carried at regular intervals.

The National Informatics Centre, the organisation responsible for maintaining government servers and providing internet and intranet facilities to various key ministries, had also faced hacking problem. According to a Canadian firm SecDev Group, which investigated the hacking of the Dalai Lama's computer in late 2008, as many as 12 computers of NIC had been affected by the Chinese hackers.

The group also surprised the government when it mentioned that computers in nine Indian Missions abroad which included key countries like the US and the UK had been affected by the Chinese hackers.

Giving details, the report said the GhostNet system directs infected computers to download a Trojan, known as ghost RAT, which allows attackers to gain complete, real-time control. These instances of ghost RAT are consistently controlled from commercial internet access accounts located on the island of Hainan, People's Republic of China.

"Our investigation reveals that GhostNet is capable of taking full control of infected computers, including searching and downloading specific files, and covertly operating attached devices, including microphones and web cameras.

“China is actively developing an operational capacity in cyberspace, correctly identifying it as the domain in which it can achieve strategic parity, if not superiority, over the military establishments of the United States and its allies.

“Chinese cyber warfare doctrine is well developed, and significant resources have been invested by the People's Liberation Army and security services in developing defensive and offensive capabilities," the report said.

According to them, an email message arrives in the target's inbox carrying the malware in an attachment or web link. The attackers' objective is to get the target to open the attachment or malicious link so that the malicious code can be executed, it said.

Keywords: Blackberry, Prime Minister's Office, government, hacking, NTRO, National Informatics Centre
source-beta.thehindu.com